The present invention generally relates to the safety ski binding art, and, in particular, concerns a new and improved construction of a safety or releasable toe holder or jaw for ski bindings which is of the type having a sole holder movably mounted for transverse movement with respect to the lengthwise direction of the related ski and retained in a normal position by means of a spring element and returned back into the normal position by the spring element following a limited transverse movement thereof, the sole holder having a pedal intended to engage below the sole end of the ski boot, the free end of the pedal being displaceably retained in a plane parallel to the ski by a jaw element fixed to the ski.
According to one such safety or releasable toe jaw or holder as has become known to the art from Swiss Pat. No. 477,210 the pedal intended to engage below the front end of the sole of the ski boot is intended to reduce the friction between the ski boot sole and the ski. Specifically, this is supposed to be accomplished in that it is displaceably held in a plane parallel to the ski at its free end by a jaw element or part which is fixed to the ski. The uncontrollable friction between the ski boot sole and the surface of the ski and dependent upon a great many extraneous circumstances and happenstances is supposed to be eliminated and replaced by the controllable friction of the aforementioned ski binding element. With the heretofore known ski binding the sole holder, however, is guided in a complicated guide arrangement which following a certain transverse displacement renders possible a displacement towards the front. The region of the transverse displacement represents the so-called elastic region or range, the range where the spring element exerts a restoring force, so that the skier can catch his or herself and there is extensively eliminated faulty release action. However, if this range is exceeded, then with the prior art toe jaws the sole holder can move towards the front in accordance with the forwardly angled course of the guide arrangement, so that the ski boot is released from the sole holder or plate and/or the heel holder. The realization of such guide arrangement requires an appreciable constructional expenditure, and in the guide arrangement itself there arise new frictional losses which are also then appreciable if, as contemplated with such constructions, there are employed guide rolls instead of sliding guide elements. Additionally, such guide arrangements are open and extremely prone to contamination, the effects of moisture, snow and other extraneous influences. This means that the set release action does not remain constant, rather, for instance, due to contamination, ice and so forth, experiences appreciable fluctuations.